


tisket, tasket

by ScrivenerSavannah



Category: Redwall Series - Brian Jacques
Genre: F/M, Fluff, pure fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 03:58:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15766131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScrivenerSavannah/pseuds/ScrivenerSavannah
Summary: A spring shower ruins Matthias's most carefully laid plans. Written for Redwall fic month 2018, week four, for the prompt "sunshine."





	tisket, tasket

Water dripped from overhanging leaves and branches and slithered down the back of Matthias’s habit as he and Cornflower hurried through the woods towards an outcropping of sandstone. He did his best to keep the rain off Cornflower, trying to shield her with his sleeve and cowl as he ran, but it was a lost cause. They were both damp and chilled when they reached the rocks and ducked into the shelter offered by the overhang.

“It’s lucky I remembered this place,” Cornflower said, shaking her head and sending droplets flying, then combing her claws quickly through fur and whiskers.

Matthias gazed out at the rain, unable to hide his disappointment. “Very lucky.” He put the picnic basket down and started trying to brush some of the water out of his own fur. Cornflower tugged him down and straightened his cowl, amusement shining clear in her brown eyes.

“I’d say we were tempting fate, trying to go on a picnic in early spring,” she said.

“What?” Matthias said. As always happened whenever Cornflower came so close, he’d been distracted marveling that such a beautiful, clever, kind mousemaid as she would choose him.

She laughed. “Tempting fate, Matthias. Spring showers can blow up quick.” Cornflower released him and picked up the picnic basket. “But they leave almost as quickly, so I wouldn’t say the day is entirely lost. Let’s go ahead and eat here.”

Matthias stepped away from the entrance and removed the sword slung across his shoulders and leaned it against a nearby wall. Cornflower glanced at it as they spread the blanket on the ground, then shook her head fondly. They’d all found it odd, at first, that Matthias didn’t like leaving the abbey without the sword, but Cornflower had understood more than most: better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Cornflower retrieved the basket and placed it between them, unpacking and laying out bread, a small wheel of cheese in wax, a few sweet early carrots, a mushroom and leek pasty carefully wrapped in a cloth napkin and still faintly warm from the oven. She gave a surprised little cry when she found the strawberries at the very bottom of the basket, and Matthias grinned.

“They’re the first of the crop,” he said. “At least, the first of the crop that the littlest ones haven’t gotten into yet. Do you like them?”

Cornflower tasted one, and lit up. “They’re delicious, Matthias, thank you.”

Flushed with pride, Matthias reached for the basket and the knife he’d put at the bottom so he could start divvying up the food. “Oh, no,” he groaned when his paw found nothing. He double checked the basket, hoping fruitlessly that it had just been wedged into the wicker. “I think I forgot the knife.”

“Oh, Matthias,” Cornflower said, not quite able to stifle her laughter as he visibly wilted with embarrassment. “That’s fine.”

“Today is just determined to go wrong,” Matthias grumbled, still looking through the basket. “First it rains for the first time in a week, now the knife… I wanted you to have a good time.”

He froze as Cornflower pushed herself up on her knees and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I am having a _wonderful_ time,” she assured him. “I think it was very romantic of you to set all this up and surprise me.”

Matthias resisted the impulse to burrow into his habit and disappear. “Thank you,” he said, pretending he wasn’t as flushed as he was. Cornflower saw through the pretense immediately and grinned. “But it still doesn’t solve the problem of not having a knife.”

“Well, we can break the bread,” Cornflower said sensibly, matching action to words and breaking the loaf roughly in half. “And we do have forks, so we can just split the pasty directly, I suppose. As for the cheese…”

Matthias took it and tried to peel the wax off with his claws, then with one of the forks. “Well, it’s certainly not the most effective, but it’s better than nothing,” he said. “I _do_ wish we had a knife of some sort, though.”

“We’ll remember for next time,” Cornflower said, plucking one of the crumbs of cheese and popping it into her mouth. “I mean, our alternative is to use your sword.”

They both looked at the sword leaning against the cave wall. Elegant and simple black leather scabbard, the hilt wrapped in leather already showing a bit of wear where Matthias’s paws gripped it, the red pommel stone glinting in the low light.

Matthias hesitated for a very long moment. It was _Martin’s sword_. Using it like that almost felt… disrespectful. What would Martin have said, to even see him _considering_ it? And yet, a sword was just a sword—as much history as this one had, as much as he had gone through to get it, it was still just a sword. And a sword was meant to cut. Better to cut food than other creatures.

“I won’t tell if you don’t,” Matthias said suddenly, grabbing the sword before he could change his mind.

Cornflower’s laughter echoed in the little cave as outside, sunshine broke through the last wisps of cloud.


End file.
